Pork drivers get HOS exemption

Truckers transporting livestock and poultry have been given a one-year exemption from the 30-minute rest break outlined the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours-of-service requirements.
The rest rule requires truck drivers to take a 30-minute break after being on the clock for 8 hours. The National Pork Producers Council had requested a waiver from this exemption because truckers were being forced to take breaks even after they had spent on-duty time waiting for animals to be loaded and unloaded.
“This is an important development for the food-animal industry, particularly the pork industry,” the council’s president, Howard Hill, said in a statement. “Pigs don’t sweat, so we can’t have them sitting on a truck for 30 minutes in the height of summer."